Feel how smoking effects your lungs

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Message 1 of 62 in Discussion
From: Joel (Original Message) Sent: 6/25/2001 7:39 AM
Okay everyone, take a deep breath and hold it. Without letting out any air, take another deep breath. Hold that one too. One more time, take one more breath. Okay let it all out.
That second or third breath is what it feels like to breath when you have advanced emphysema. Emphysema is a disease where you cannot exhale air. Everyone thinks that it is a disease where you cannot inhale but in fact it is the opposite. When you smoke you destroy the lungs elasticity by destroying the tissue that pulls your lung back together after using muscles that allow us to inhale air. So when it comes time to take your next breath it is that much more difficult, for your lungs could not get back to their original shape.
Imagine going through life having to struggle to breath like those last two breaths I had you take. Unfortunately, millions of people don't have to imagine it, they live it daily. It is a miserable way to live and a slow painful way to die.
So when you take your normal breaths recognize that you are not in pain or on oxygen. You are hopefully breathing normally. This is a gift you have given yourself by quitting, the ability to breath longer. Never lose sight of this fact. To keep your ability to breath better for the rest of your life always remember to never take another puff!
Joel
For anyone who feels they feel bad from quitting. Do this little experiment and picture what it would be like to breath like this for years on end. Or go visit a cancer ward at your local hospital and watch how people are fighting for pure existence using chemotherapeutic agents that are making them sicker than they have probably ever felt in their lives.

Or go to hospice and witness the end stages of life, for people who have run out heroic effort kind of options and are just passing the time until death takes them. Consider all these scenarios and ask yourself is what you are now experiencing worse than what these people are now experiencing? Ask yourself would you gladly trade places with any of these people?

You can get a glimpse of the extremes of suffering at www.whyquit.com. Read Bryan's story at http://whyquit.com/whyquit/BryanLeeCurtis.html, where the pictures below are from. Smoking caused this suffering. If these pictures and this story saddens you, remember, it will be worse if it happens to you. For it will be your family in the photo watching your suffering and dying.

No matter what adverse effects a few people may suffer from quitting, it is helping them avoid much worse effects, and even life threatening implications if they were to continue to smoke. Look at smoking and not smoking very accurately with a very critical eye and you will always choose to never take another puff!

Joel

How Bryan changed in two months. Is anyone thinking that they have deteriorated this much in two months?

This photo of Bryan was taken just 64 days before his June 3rd death.  Click it to view his message to you.photo

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Message 61 of 62 in Discussion
From: Joel Sent: 6/6/2008 8:41 AM
Related videos:
Video Title Dial Up High Speed MP3 Audio Length Created
Learning how to inhale 1.70mb 16.8mb 2.10mb 04:38 10/02/06
See how smoking destroys the lungs 1.55mb 4.59mb 1.87mb 04:13 11/27/06
The Palmolive bottle demonstration 2.84mb 19.1mb 3.55mb 07:45 10/11/06
Lung cancer 3.04mb 6.55mb 8.58mb 18:48 11/05/06

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